Closet Case
by OhNoMyMy
Summary: Emma tries to be friends with Regina. For the sake of Henry. Or that's at least what she's telling herself.
1. Chapter 1

Ok so this is the very first story that I publish. Please be nice! :(  
There are at least about 5 chapters coming up, but I haven't fully finished those yet.

It will be a light, romantic and hopfully funny story.

Enjoy!

* * *

07:45, Regina looked at the clock for the 10th time in the past 5 minutes.  
_Why is she always late? _she thought to herself.

For the past few weeks she and Emma had developed a parenting arrangement of some sort.  
After school Henry was at Emma's, in the weekends he was at Regina's. Or as she would like to call it _home._

When she was about to check the time again, she heard to front door open.

"Mom!" she heard Henry yell. "I'm home!"  
"Sorry we're late!" Emma quickly added.

Regina walked towards her son and his biological mother in the hallway, pretending not to have noticed their 15 minute delay.  
In the past she would have made some snipey comment about Emma being immature and setting the wrong example.  
But ever since the spell broke, and everyone had left her, she pretended not to have noticed in order to seem busy.  
Which, unfortunately, was not the case.

She really didn't have much to do these days. She wasn't mayor anymore, her only friend Katherine had obviously left her, and her son spend half of his time either at school or with the Charmings.  
So her days were now filled with reading, watching tv and of course, trying to find a way home. Not that she wanted to go home per se.  
There was nothing back in the Enchanted forest waiting for her, besides jail or death maybe.  
But she just wanted to know if there would be a way, in order to control it.

"That's ok." Regina replied. "I didn't even notice."

Emma looked at her curiously. _Why is she letting me off that easily?  
_"Good." she said with some hesitation. "But so you know, it won't happen again."

Regina tried to give her a sincere smile and nodded in agreement.  
"Did Henry eat already?"

"Yeah, he did." The blonde replied.  
"We just had a huge family dinner. And by the amount he ate, he probably won't be hungry for the next couple of days." She joked.

"I see...I kept a leftover in case he hadn't." she lied.  
The disappointment in her eyes was unmistakable. This was the third night in a row she had to eat dinner alone.  
Every evening she made an extra plate for her son, in case he would be home earlier.  
So far, that has not been the case.

The blonde pretended not to notice the Queen's sadness, out of respect maybe, or out of fear for a confrontation.  
She really was done fighting her.  
"Ok then, I ehh…gotta go. Enjoy the rest of your evening Regina" she said while making her way back to the car.

Regina turned around and was about to close the door when she suddenly was stopped by the sound of Emma's voice.  
"Listen," the blonde turned around on the path "I think it might be good for Henry to have dinner together once. I mean, just the three of us.  
He still has the idea we want to kill each other and stuff, but I think..."

"I'd love too." Regina interrupted.  
"And you're right, it might be good for Henry."

Emma couldn't help but notice relieve in Regina's voice.  
"How about Saturday then? Henry doesn't have to go to school the next day, plus you and I can maybe talk a bit after he'd gone to bed." she suggested.

Regina looked at her questionable.

"We don't want to kill each other anymore right? Or at least, I don't." Emma joked nervously.

"Sure," the Queen agreed. "And Saturday is fine. I'll see you at 5."

Emma smiled about the way the former Mayor still ordered her around.  
But she knew exactly how Regina felt. It showed with every movement she made and every word that escaped her mouth. So she could handle her bossiness.  
It was mask for her true feelings. Pain, loneliness, lost.

She could clearly use a friend. And what better way to ease her pain than to offer her one.  
For the sake of Henry of course.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for reading, following and the great comments I received.**  
**I really appreciate it. :)**

* * *

While Regina walked back into the house towards Henry's room, she couldn't help but wondering what Emma wanted to talk to her about.  
She imagined the most awful scenarios. _Is she leaving Storybrooke and is she taking Henry with her? Does she want Henry to live with her 24/7? Do the town minions want to punish me after all? Jail maybe? _Somehow nothing positive crossed her mind.__

"Henry?" She opened the door to his bedroom, the boy was already lying in bed reading his favorite book.  
She sat down on the edge of his bed, taking a deep breath "How was your evening?"

"Great mom. We played board games, ate spaghetti. And..."

"Did anything strange happen? I mean, anything important?" she knew it was rude not to let him finish his story. But when Henry wanted to talk, there was no way in stopping him. And time was precious in a moment like this.  
If Emma was indeed planning something against her, she had to act quickly.

"Like what?" the boy asked.

"Well, Emma wants to talk to me about something. I though...I don't know, maybe about school?" she lied.

Her son looked at her in surprise "No nothing happened. Am I not doing well at school?"

"You're doing fine Henry, that's why I was wondering. But it's probably nothing important"  
She kissed her son on his forehead and turned off his bedside light before walking back into the hallway. "Good night sweetheart"

"Good night mom." he said with a sleepy voice.

* * *

"Hey Kid." Emma sat down next to Henry at Grannies Diner.

"Hi Emma. We're going to have a really nice dinner tomorrow."  
His eyes twinkled by the thought of all the ingredients he saw on Regina's shopping list earlier that day.  
"My mom is preparing a very special meal for us."

"Nothing with apples I hope?" The blonde asked with a chuckle.

With the expression of a great knight, which is probably something he learned from his grand dad, he assured her "I will test taste the food for you!" followed by a sudden realisation about the talk Emma wanted to have with his mother.

Emma noticed the change in his expression.  
"What's wrong kid. It was just a joke right?"

"I know" he hesitated briefly "Why do you want to talk to my mother?"

Emma looked up at him in surprise. Not really knowing what he was talking about.

"My mom said you wanted to talk to her about something tomorrow.  
She asked me if it might be about my schoolwork." His gaze went towards the table.  
"Did Mary...Sno...I mean, did grandma say something about that? Is that why you want to talk to her?"

"Oh no, is that what she thinks?" the Sheriff tried to meet his eyes.  
"I really just want to get to know her a little better. The only dialog we have at the moment is _I'm here to pick up Henry_ and _See you next time"_

Henry still didn't seem convinced.  
_  
"_Like it or not kid, we are both your parents, so we might as well act on it...LIKE it. Act like it" she quickly added maybe a bit louder than she intended. She realized how odd that must have sounded, but luckily that kind of stuff was completely lost on her 10 year old son.

His face lid up by the good news and he finally met Emma's eyes again "Good, I think she will like that. She is quite lonely you know. She might be the evil queen who cast a spell on all of us, but she's also still my mom. So please try not to fight with her tomorrow, she really is trying."

"I know kid, I really do. And I really do want to help her."

She meant it, although she didn't quite realize it before, she sure as hell did now. She really wanted to get to know Regina and help her get through this.  
For the sake of their son of course. _Their_ _son_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Finaly a slightly longer chapter.**  
**Hope it's still ok. :)**

* * *

"I'm off Snow! Don't wait up!" Emma yelled while trying to grab her jacket, phone and car keys at the same time.

She was in a hurry, nervous even. Regina didn't like it when people were late.  
And since she had promised Henry not to end up fighting her tonight, she did everything in her power to make this evening work.  
No fighting, no bitching, no sarcastic comments.

She had even made a list with subjects to talk about in case things were going the wrong way.

Luckily halfway through it she dismissed the idea and went for plan B: natural charms.  
Let's just hope she still had them.

Snow peeked around the corner into the hallway, watching the show her daughter was putting on "Emma..?"  
When she didn't receive any response she walked closer and raised her voice trying to get her daughters attention.  
"Sweetheart? What are you wearing? I thought you were going to Regina's?"

Emma's head snapped up and she met Snow's eyes "I am!" she replied in all her inner chaos "What's wrong with my outfit?"

She looked down at her dress, tights and high heels, suddenly realizing she didn't have any pockets to put her stuff in.  
_How inconvenient. _"Can I borrow one of your bags?"

Her mother folded her arms and looked at her curiously.  
"Ok first of all, I am very happy to see you finally wearing a dress. It looks good on you.  
But now that you're asking me for a handbag, I am really starting to worry.  
Unless...you have a valid reason for all this?" waving at her outfit.

Although Snow didn't know much about Emma yet, what she did know was that she never went through this much trouble when she went out. Then again, she only ever went out with Ruby, or with herself, back in the days.  
Those nights, it always took Emma about 10 minutes to get ready. And _this_ was definitely more than 10 minutes.

Her daughter turned around watching herself in the mirror.  
"No. No reason, why do I need a reason? I just felt like it. What's wrong with it anyway?" she now started to sound a bit insecure and slightly annoyed since she really was in a hurry and didn't have time to change clothes…again.

Snow started to enjoy this show more and more. She'd never seen her this nervous before, Emma never cared much about her appearance, and she surely never wore a dress.  
So with a slight hind in her voice she tried "Well, with a stunning appearance like that, you might as well stop by a bar or a club tonight.  
Men will fall at your feet!"

Emma watched her mother for a second and shook her head in disbelief.  
"Snow, I don't want any men at my feet. Believe me. Besides, tonight is all about Henry. He's going to experience a normal family dinner with both his mothers. And there's nothing wrong with dressing up for once."  
She hugged her mother and ran off towards her car, leaving a stunned Snow behind.

When the dark haired woman walked back into the house, lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the questionable look her husband gave her.

"Did you just see a ghost?" he asked.

"No ghost, but it definitely was something strange."  
She sat down on the other end of the table and gave him a serious look.  
"Please tell me...why do _you _think Emma never dates?"

Her husband put down his newspaper, cleared his throat, and gave her a similar serious expression back.  
"You mean besides that fact that she's town sheriff, just got back from the Enchanted Forest, and recently figured out she has a family full of fairy tale character?"

They both laughed at his rather obvious statement.

"You're absolutely right James. I guess I am seeing ghosts."  
And she really hoped she did.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the other side of town, Emma had parked her car and gave herself one last look in the mirror.

_She can't complain about my hair, my make-up, my clothes, and not even about the time. You nailed it Swan!  
_With a smirk she stepped out of her yellow bug, and started making her way towards the front door.

While walking the immense long path, leading up to the mansions porch, she couldn't help acknowledging what a lucky kid Henry was for growing up in a place like this.  
When she gave him up for adoption, she imagined a stable and loving family for her son. One who would provide him with everything he needed. And although Regina raised him all by herself, there is no doubt she granted Henry's every wish. She had wealth, status, and she loved her son more than anything.

If you ignored the whole evil queen thing, this was way better than Emma had ever dared to dream.

Before having the chance to ring the doorbell, the door swung open with an excited Henry on the other side.

"Mom, she's here!" he yelled through the house.  
He grabbed Emma's hand, and dragged her towards the kitchen, where Regina was finishing up the last of their dinner preparations.

She was still wearing her apron and kitchen gloves, yet she looked absolutely regally.  
_How does she always do that?_ Emma wondered, suddenly feeling all insecure about her own appearance.  
She started to move uncomfortably on her heels, trying to find the right balance in order to look halfway as classy as the lady of the house.

"Welcome Miss Swan." she greeted her guest with a brought smile.

Emma never really knew if it was sincere, or if she wanted to hurt her.  
She had fell for it once already, it ended up poisoning Henry. But maybe that wasn't because of her smile, maybe it was just that damn tasty looking apple pie. Or maybe it was both.  
Either way, the woman had a magnificent smile. Anyone would have fallen for that right?

"Henry dear, please take miss Swan's jacket and offer her a drink. I really have to finish dinner."

Before Emma got the chance to register what the hell was happening, the boy took her jacket, raced towards the hallway and back into the kitchen. Sliding his last few meters across the room, and stopping exactly next to her.

It seemed Henry didn't want to lose his parents out of sight.  
Not out of fear they would hurt each other, but more out of fear he would be dreaming.

Both his mothers in one room, at one table, eating dinner together…out of free will nonetheless.  
It was better than any fairytale he had ever read.


	4. Chapter 4

**Finally another chapter!**  
**Enjoy :)**

* * *

While both women expected dinner to be awkward as hell, in the end it was nothing of that sort. Henry made himself the running motor behind every conversation. And although it often seemed more like an interview than small-talk, both women were happy he kept the conversation going.

With a loud and fulfilled moan, Emma finished her last bite and put down her cutlery.  
"This was by far the best meal I've had in ages. You are a wonderful cook Regina."

"Thank you" she answered the blonde shyly "I'm glad you enjoyed it."  
There was no need to confess to her she had to start twice all over again, because she burned the food and dropped a pan.

While Henry shoved the last few bites into his mouth, he asked "Awwe gonneh pway a gme nw?"

Both women looked at him in disgust.  
"Henry, do not talk with your mouth full" Regina stated the obvious.

The kid started chewing faster, swallowed his food, and downed the remains with a glass of water.  
Before he finally, out of breath, asked again "Are we going to play a game now?"

"First dessert Henry." Regina reminded him. "After that we'll see."  
She met her guest eyes, hoping to find some back-up for this horrible idea.  
Unfortunately all she found was a look of..._are those puppy eyes?! _

Regina dragged herself away from those green eyes, finally meeting her son's again.  
"You know what Henry," she finally said "you think of a game while I serve the ice cream."

As soon as Regina returned with 3 plates of freshly homemade apple flavored ice-cream, she fell in the middle of a discussion between her son and his birth mother.

"Henry please" she heard the blonde say "I used to be the queen of hide and seek! Back at the foster care, we were forced to hide when the wardens came by to give us horrible chores. One turns out a true champion at hiding when necessary."

"Mom, we are so much better than Emma right?" he gave his mother a wink like it was some sort of secret code they shared.  
But there was no game code, only the same puppy eyes as she had witnessed earlier on the blonde.  
_That was probably the reason why I couldn't resist them earlier on Emma_, she convinced herself.

"Out of all games, you two chose hide and seek? Can't we play chess, cards….a computer game even?" she was close to begging.

"You're not afraid of losing now are you madam mayor?"

The title Emma used wasn't lost on either of them. They both looked at each other for some time until Regina broke the silence.  
"Don't be silly _sheriff_. This is my house, and I know every hidden corner and every secret room. So fine…" she threw down her napkin "you're on."

* * *

"3...2...1... Here I come!"  
Emma started walking through the huge mansion, feeling lost already.  
_Me and my big mouth._

She searched the living room, looked into every kitchen cabinet, checked the downstairs bathroom, some fancy room with no apparent purpose, the dining room, hallway, closet...REGINA!

"Well that didn't take me too long!" Emma proudly stated.

"I was merely making it easier for you miss Swan. This house is, of course, foreign to you. And therefore you do need my help in finding Henry. The sooner you find him, the sooner we can move on with this silly game."  
Regina wasn't planning of showing her defeat easily. And there was some truth to it, she did want this game to end.

"Fine," the blonde replied. "Let's find Henry together. I am completely lost in this house."

After they'd finally found their son in one of the rooms upstairs, Emma felt comfortable enough to wander and hide on the 1st floor herself.  
The only problem was...Henry kept finding her within minutes. So she needed another technique.  
_There's no way he will look in the same spot twice!_

When it was Henry's turn again, Emma ran into his room and jumped into the closet she hid in earlier.  
She quickly closed the door behind her, only to discover something that shouldn't be there.  
"What the...?" she squeaked.

"Oh hush miss Swan." she heard Regina whisper.

For a few second there was silence between them.  
They both listened to Henry counting down, and they both really didn't know what to say.

"So..."Emma whispered eventually "you really have a thing for hiding in closets right?"

"Funny miss Swan, now be quite before he hears you." the queen ordered.

Regina didn't really know where to leave her hands, since Emma jumped into the closet without looking.  
She held them uncomfortably between her stomach and Emma's. Keeping them both from falling.

"Don't move your hand!" Emma panicked.

"My nose is itching miss Swan. In case you haven't noticed, your hair is in my face."

Regina started to make funny faces to get the hair out of her eyes and nose.  
It made Emma chuckle.

"Don't laugh!"

"Stop making those faces!" Emma laughed.  
"Here, I'll scratch your nose for you."

She reach up to Regina's face, to help her get the hairs out of the way.  
As soon as her hand touched her skin, they both froze. Emma felt her own heart beating like crazy.  
_What on earth is that all about?_ she wondered.

"Miss Swan?...Miss Swan?...EMMA!" Regina tried to yell as quite as possible.

Emma snapped out of it and continued her task.  
"Oh god sorry!" she replied. "I thought I heard Henry coming in." _It's a good thing I'm an excellent liar._

Suddenly the door swung open.

"HENRY!" they both yelled in surprise.

"Found you!"  
"Now it's your turn mom." Pointing at Regina, who was still squashed in the corner of his closet.

"Oh no little man, it's way past your bed time. Play time's over for today."  
Henry tried to give her the puppy-eyes look again, which would have worked on any other night. But Emma still wanted to talk to her about something, and she just wanted to get it over with.  
"Off you go Henry."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it took so long!  
Here are 2 new chapters.**

**Hope I'm doing ok with the spelling etc.**  
**I'm not native english.**

* * *

Emma waited downstairs while Regina put their son to bed.  
She sat on the couch, letting her eyes wander across the living room.  
Like the lady of the house, everything was perfectly well thought of. Classy, yet warm and comfy.

When she saw Regina enter the living room, she gave her a smile.  
"He really is a great kid isn't he. You really did a great job raising him"

Regina sat down, at a reasonable distance, next to Emma.  
"Thank you" she faced the other woman, making sure she met her eyes " and thank you for giving me a son like that."

Emma started giggling somewhat nervously.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Emma shook her head "it just sounded funny the way you said...never mind."  
The savior decided not to explain any further. _Let's not mess this up!_

"Henry told me you were worried about tonight. About the talk I suggested." Emma was met by a shocked look from her mayor.  
"I didn't want to talk about anything specifically. I just wanted to get to know the mother of my child a bit better."  
Again she had to keep herself from laughing by her own choice of her words.

Those words were again lost on Regina, since she was too busy panicking being caught.  
_Of course Henry had to talk to her about this. It seems those two share everything these days.  
Great, now I seem insecure, and worst of all weak!_

She met Emma's questionable gaze, and tried to reply as cool as possible.  
"You sounded serious when you said you wanted to talk. I thought it might have been about his schoolwork."

Emma knew she was lying, but decided to play along.  
"He's doing fine at school." she said. "And if not Mar..., I mean, Snow would let you know first. You are his mother Regina."

The queen didn't know if it was the wine, or Emma's words, that suddenly made her feel all weird inside.  
But to better be save then sorry right? She grabbed the wine and poured herself another drink.

"More?" holding up the bottle with a somewhat forced smile on her face.

Emma held out her glass. "Hit me!"

* * *

When the clock hit 12, both women jumped at the chime.

"It's getting late, I should go." Emma, got up from the couch, afraid she would change her mind if she stayed down another second.  
"I still have to walk home for quite a bit. You know, since I cannot drive anymore thanks to your lovely wine."

"You're very welcome." Regina mused while following the blonde towards the hallway.

With her jacket on and ready to face the night, Emma turned around to meet the host's lovely eyes.  
"I had a really nice time Regina."

"Me too." she softly replied.  
"You know… If you want, we can do this again some time."

Emma felt a grin appear on her own face "I would like that."  
And with that she gave Regina a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

They stared in each other's eyes for what seemed forever, until they finally broke lose and Emma reached for the door.

"Good night my queen." She teased.

Regina experienced that annoying feeling in the pit of her stomach again.  
Lucky for her it was just the wine.

"Enjoy your walk, princess." she smiled, and watched the blonde walked away.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Emma appeared slightly hangover, but with a big smile at the breakfast-table.

"Good morning" Snow said.  
"You were home quite late last night. I started to doubt if you would come home at all."

_Is she waiting up for me now? Is she catching up on my teenage years?  
_The annoyed expression on Emma's face was not something she was bothering hiding right now.  
"Why wouldn't I have come home?"

They were interrupted by James who suddenly noticed the absence of Emma'a yellow Volkswagen.  
"Where is your car? Did you walk home last night?"

"I had too much to drink. Left the car at Regina's and will pick it up later."  
Emma's mind suddenly wandered off to her clothing collection. _What should I wear?  
Wait...why do I even care? Just jump into some old pair of jeans an get the damn car._

Snow noticed Emma's inner debate, and watched her daughters expression for a while.  
As soon as her husband went into the bathroom, she tried to give the conversation another go.  
"So, anything interesting happened last night?"

"Interesting?" her daughter replied while snapping out of her daydream.  
"What do you mean?"

"Well, you did have dinner with Regina after all. I can imagine things might have been...tense?"

Emma looked at her puzzling.  
"Tense? No not at all. We actually had a really nice time. In fact, we're gonna do it again soon."

Snow recognized the expression on Emma's face.  
And no matter how much she wished she was wrong, she couldn't deny the fact that Emma seemed to have _a thing_ for Regina.

"Emma, sweetheart..." she began carefully "...listen. Do you and...do you..." She just couldn't find the right words.  
She took a deep breath and tried again.

"Have you ever..."

Emma was saved by the buzzing sound of her phone.  
She grabbed it with the speed of light, and walked off towards another room.  
"Sorry Snow, work! Might be important!"

Leaving a still speechless Snow White behind.

She saw the name of her friend, along with some stupid photo appear on her screen.  
_Note to self: get another photo of Ruby._

"Hey Rubes, what's up" Emma answered.  
"...sure, I'll be there in an hour"

* * *

By the end of the morning, a morning where Emma tried to avoid her mother at all costs, she met her friend at Grannies.

"Where's your car?" the red-addicted waitress asked.

"I left it at Regina's last night. Too much wine." she pulled a face which didn't need any further explanation.  
Too much wine indeed.

"So you're hangover, without a car, and yet you're smiling like a mad woman."  
"Did she poison you?" Ruby laughed at her own joke. "Sorry...too soon?"

"She might have. I somehow can't stop grinning ever since yesterday."  
Emma showed Ruby her grin, which was met by a scared expression from her friend.  
"I guess I'm just glad to see Henry happy."

"...and to see Regina" Ruby added with a slight hint of _wake up and smell the coffee._

"What?!" Emma suddenly dropped 6 feet down from her cloud.

"Come on Emm, I know that look"

"What look?!" Emma jumped to her own defense.  
"I don't have a look! I'm just like you said...hangover"

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that hon. But I'm not stupid. I'm a wolf and I know when it's mating season."

"Ruby shut up!" Emma laughed quite painfully.  
"I don't have to listen to this. We're gonna have lunch, and we're not going to mention Regina, Evil Queen OR apples for the next 30 minutes. After that...I will pick up my car."

"Sure" her friend replied in defeat" do you want some apple-pie with that coffee?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Here we go with chapter 7. The next one is almost ready as well, it will be up soon.**

And again, thank you for the wonderful reviews. It really made my day :)

* * *

****

After a rather stressful lunch meeting with a very curious Ruby, Emma was on her way to pick up the car.

The fresh air felt good, she felt good.  
Her mind wandered to Ruby's earlier words, smiling while she tried to justify them.  
_From Ruby's point of view it must seem like a crush indeed. Being this happy after a dinner date with Regina. I would probably think the same thing if I were her.  
But come on...me and Regina...it's insane!_

As soon as she arrived at the mansion, she noticed Regina's car was missing from the driveway.  
For a brief moment she considered walking another block, and coming back later.

_Now why would I do that? Am I actually disappointed she's not home? This is all Ruby' s fault.  
_Without giving it much further thought, she got into her car and drove off.  
_Insane I tell you..._

When she opened the door to Casa di Charming, her phone buzzed.  
She opened the message: **How was Regina? Looking hot? X**

_Damn you Rubes! _Emma smiled, immediately starting to type her reply:  
**Oh Ruby, you know I only have eyes for you! ;)**

At the other side of town, Regina arrived back from picking up Henry from his playdate.

"Hey Emma picked up her car already!" her son noticed.

_Great...I was only away for 10 minutes!  
_"Yes she did, too bad you missed her eh?" the queen said, facing her son through the car mirror.

Regina didn't deny to herself she was looking forward to seeing Emma today.  
She was about the only person in this town who didn't quickly cross the road when she saw her.

The day suddenly seemed a lot less appealing knowing she would be alone today.  
_There must a way for her to return. Simply asking it not an option. I'm not desperate._

"Henry, you just start on your homework ok? We'll have dinner in one hour"

"Sure mom" with great aversion he walked up the stairs.

Regina made her way into her office, walking towards a closet in the back of it.  
_  
Ok maybe I am desperate after all.  
_She opened the doors, and took a step back to have a better overview of its content.  
On each shelf there were maps, boxes and piles of unsorted photos that still needed a place in one of the many empty albums she once bought.

She took out a few of the boxes labeled _Henry_, and started going through the photos that were inside.  
Within minutes her desk was filled with pictures of her son, all sorted in small piles.  
She held a picture in her hand that was taken the day she became a mother. Flipping it over she read **Henry, 5 months old.** She smiled to herself. _Time really goes by fast._

She picked up her phone and started typing.

* * *

Back at the Charmings, Emma's phone buzzed again.  
**_It seems like I just missed you. Too bad, I wanted to give you something. Regina  
_**  
An instant grin appeared on Emma's face. Butterflies went mad in the pit of her stomach. And her face turned bright red as soon she realized her mother was looking at her.

"Regina?" Snow asked rhetorically.

All she received was a stunned look from her daughter, followed by a "No, no it's not".  
Emma got up and left the room, leaving her mother alone once again.

_Things were so much easier when I was still her friend instead of her mother._

Not caring much about Snow's feelings, Emma dropped herself on the bed, and started typing her reply.  
**What did you... ***delete*  
**What is... ***delete*  
She gave it another thought. **I can... **She deleted it, started typing again, deleting, typing...then she stopped.

She sat in silence for some time, replaying the past 24 hours in her head.  
After several minutes staring into nothingness, it finally hit her. _How the hell did this happen?_

She took up her phone again, sending another message.  
**Rubes, you were right! HELP!**

Within seconds the waitress sent her reply:  
**_Come by my place at 4, bring wine a chocolate. Let's talk. X_**

Emma felt better knowing she had someone to share her recent discovery with.

_Great, now what to reply to Regina?  
Why is this so hard? Just act normal, it's not like she has been flirting with you._

**Too bad! :( Did I forgot something yesterday? Emma**

**_No, I just wanted to give you something I found the other day.  
Think of it as a surprise. Regina_**

_A surprise?! _Regina thought when she hit send button. _I might as well make her an album now!  
One photo is hardly a surprise. Stupid!_

Emma smiled at the text.  
**I can come by this evening if that's ok? E.**

**_That would be great. R._**

Emma smiled at the way Regina mimicked her text style.  
_I guess she's not much of a text person._

* * *

**__**  
"So..." a very proud Ruby began "I'm glad you finally decided to listed to me. You know, I'm almost always right about these things."

Emma rolled her eyes "Yeah yeah, you have a nose for romance, I know"  
"But what the hell should I do? It's Regina we're talking about! Out of all people."

Ruby put her hand on top of Emma's, squeezing it lightly "Don't even get me started about wrong choices. Love is never easy and the complicated ones are always the most interesting."

Emma lifted her head to meet her friend's eyes "You do realize she is the _evil_ queen right? She wanted to kill my mother, was married to my grandfather, and lets not forget she wanted me dead before I was even born."

"Excellent point, this may indeed not be your finest moment. But in all fairness, she is _really_ hot. Plus she didn't kill you, nor your mother." Ruby looked at Emma rather painfully, not really knowing how to handle this.  
"Did I mention already she is hot?

"Really not helping! What should I do?" the blonde whined, she leaned her head against the couch.

Ruby squeezed her hand tighter "Whatever you do, do it carefully. I have a hard time trusting her, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I will. Thanks."


	8. Chapter 8

8 PM, Emma arrived at Regina's place.  
It was early enough to see Henry, yet late enough for him to go to bed some time soon.

"Emma!" an out of breath little boy yelled when he opened the front door.

"Henry, don't run in the house!" she heard Regina yell from the other side of the house.

Emma noticed by the sound of her voice, this wasn't the first time she had told him.  
"Hi kid, I came to see your mom"

"I know! But we're gonna play a game as well right?"

_Maybe no hide and seek this time.  
_"Sure we are. You grab a board game and we'll sit down later ok?"

Emma walked into the house, which seemed a lot more familiar to her then it was 2 days ago.

"Hi" she greeted the woman of her recent dreams "hope I'm not too late?"  
She obviously wasn't, she just really didn't know what the plan was for this evening.  
Was she receiving the _surprise _and leave? Was she staying until Henry went to bed? Were they gonna sit down and talk when he did?

"Of course not" Regina snapped Emma out of her dream state "wine?" she asked with a smile holding up a bottle of Merlot.

_Guess this is more then just picking up a gift_.  
"I would love to" she answered while trying to hold her joyfulness within it's proper limits.

At that moment Henry came rushing down the stairs, holding 2 board-games.  
"Monopoly or Scrabble?"

Regina looked questionable towards Emma.

"He wanted to play a game if that's ok with you?" the blonde explained.

"Of course" Regina answered "but since you two are obviously making plans behind my back, I can choose the game this time. Scrabble it is!"

A relieved smile escaped the blonde. For a moment she thought Regina didn't approve of her agreement to a game.

The three of them sat down at the table. Regina and Emma sat across from each other, their son on the side.  
They kept the game plain and simple. There was a 10 year old playing along after all.  
Short words appeared on the board, and the kid obviously taking the lead for the past 30 minutes.

_apple,_the boy put down.

"You're giving your mom an open door here kid." Emma mused.

"Oh the things I can do with apples." Regina said with a dreamy voice.  
"You're going to lose with this one Henry!" Right away she attached the word _sauces._

"Don't tell me you have been keeping _sauces_ in the hopes of getting _apple_?" Emma asked suspicious.

"It might have worked with _cherry _as well" Regina laughed.

_closet_ Emma finally put down.  
"The things one can do with closets." Emma imitated Regina's earlier words, afraid to look into the woman's eyes.  
When heard a chuckle coming across from her, she was unable to withhold her own grin.  
_Score one for Emma!_

"What's so funny about _closet_?" their son asked.

Emma almost choked on her wine.  
"Because of the hide and seek game we played yesterday" she quickly told him.

Henry raised his shoulders. "I don't get it. It's not _that _funny"

At some point Regina put down _case_.

"What's a closetcase?" Henry asked.

Both his mothers started to laugh.  
"I don't thinks that's supposed to be one word Regina"

She quickly removed the stones again.  
"I kind of had that feeling already."

Henry looked at them in complete horror. "Grown ups are so weird"

He put down his final word, and started to tidy up before they had the chance to actually read it. "I win!"  
He took the box upstairs, and yelled back down "I don't need a bedtime story today. You are both acting weird."

Emma and Regina looked at each other and burst out laughing.  
"That poor kid!" Emma said with tears in her eyes.

"That's gonna give him another 5 years on the couch" Regina laughed "Better ask Dr Hopper for a discount"

When Henry was ready for bed, both women wished him a good night and made their way back downstairs into the living room.

"Sit down, make yourself comfortable. I will get what you came for" Regina said as she walked towards a drawer in the hallway.  
"Here" the handed Emma a few old photos from Henry. "You can have them. I have so many, and these were doubles."

Emma held on to the photos as if they were the most precious things in the world.  
"Thank you" she said while looking straight into Regina's eyes "Oh my god, thank you"  
She went through them ever so slowly, while Regina told her the stories behind them.  
"I wrote some information on the back as well. You know, dates and locations."

"He looks so very happy on every photo" Emma noticed. "He is one lucky kid to have you in his life"

Regina looked at her in confusion. "You can not be serious?"

"I am. You must be the most perfect mother in the world. Ok maybe if you leave out the whole evil queen part.

But for Henry, you must have been..._be _perfect" she corrected herself.

The dark haired woman stared at the photos. "I tried my best. But I can not help feeling like a failure."  
She took a sip from her wine, trying to drink in some courage.  
"It hurt me so much the day he left me to find you. I was hoping that if he'd succeed, he would be disappointed. I was hoping you would be a huge failure. A terrible woman with no heart for the kid." she stared unto an empty spot on the couch.  
"But you were not" she said while meeting Emma's eyes again. "He loves you, more then he loves me. And it kills me. But I can't blame him for feeling the way he does. I did some horrible things to this town, to his family. And then you come into his live, turning everything right. Exposing me. Of course he loves you more. He looks up to you."

Emma could only stare at the woman in front of her.  
She knew it was the truth. Regina did do all those things, but she forgot one very important fact. "I am the one who abandoned him Regina. Don't you ever forget that. He might love me, but there will always be a part of him blaming me that."

She reached for Regina's hand. "Please believe me when I say Henry loves you. And he may look up to me now. But just wait until he's a teenager. I bet he won't be favoring the the _good _parent then" she tried to lighten up the conversation a bit, which failed immensely.

Regina took away her hand to wipe away her tears.  
"Why are you being so nice to me?" It almost sounded like an insult.

_Because I'm crazy about you.  
_"Because you deserve to know the truth" Emma finally said. Which wasn't a complete lie of course.  
"I want you to be a part of Henry's life, to stay a part of his life. I grew up without parents, and he has the chance to grow up with two. I can't make that happen without you."

Regina turned away her face, tears rolling down her cheeks.  
"I'm sorry, I think I really want you to leave now"

"Why?" Emma was confused at the sudden turn this conversation and evening had been taken.

"Because I can not think straight at the moment. Actually, I don't know what to think anymore. I want to believe you, but I can't. Because it's just not true. My son hates me." she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.  
"You know what, I am probably just tired and had too much to drink. I really just need to get some rest."

"Are you sure?" Emma tried to touch Regina's shoulder, but the queen turned away.

"Yes. Please go. Please...Emma."

Emma got up from the couch, considering to say something soothing again. But decided against it.  
"If you need to talk, please call me. Whatever the time."

She only received a nod from the woman who usually always had something witty to say.  
And with much inner struggle, Emma finally made it to the front-door. She took a deep breath and told herself it was really best to leave.

When Regina heard the door close, and was sure Emma had left, she broke down completely.  
The truth was, she didn't want to be alone at all. She needed Emma, she needed a shoulder to cry on. But it was too soon.  
She was still rather insecure about her early friendship with the sheriff, and didn't want to show this side of her just yet.

She lay down on the couch, holding a pillow in her arms. It was the closest thing to a hug she could get right now.  
And without caring about her whereabouts, she drifted of to sleep.

* * *

**Sorry, I couldn't resist throwing in some drama. ;-)**


	9. Chapter 9

"Mom!"  
Regina shot up from her very uncomfortable sleeping position.

"Why were you sleeping on the couch?" her son slowly walked towards her, afraid of what he might witness.

Regina looked around in confusion "I ehh...I fell asleep."

"Are you ill? You don't look so good"

She wiped the hairs out of her face, and started to search for her phone.  
"I'm fine. I'm going to shower. After that I'll make you breakfast"

"Mom, it's monday. I have to leave in 15 minutes."

Regina looked at the clock in disbelief.  
She immediately tried to stand up, but a painful shot in her back forced her to sit down again. _Damn couch!_

Henry grabbed an apple from the kitchen, and picked up his rucksack.  
"I'll eat some fruit. Gotta run." he said "I hope you feel better soon"

The sound of the front door closing, immediately took her back to the night before.  
_First I sent away Emma, now I'm neglecting my son. What a wonderful way the start the week._

* * *

On his way to school, Henry made a quick stop at the police station.

"Hey kid what are you doing here?" Emma looked up from her morning paper.

"My mom is ill...I think. She slept on the couch last night, and didn't look so good. Anyway, do you maybe have something to eat? I've only got an apple."

Emma had been awake almost all night, wondering whether or not to send Regina a text message to see if she was ok. It took her a lot of effort not to hit that send button.  
But now, upon hearing that she probably cried herself to sleep on the couch, she felt awful for being to damn sensible.

"Where is your mom now?" she asked her son while handing him her lunch package.

He lifted his shoulders "Dunno, home I suppose"

"Come on" Emma got her car keys "I'll drop you off at school, after that I will check on your mother"

* * *

Emma parked her car at the usual spot and walked towards the house.  
The curtains were closed, and the newspaper was still lying on the doormat.  
_Either she went back to sleep, or she really doesn't want any visitors._

She sat down on the porch for a few minutes, wondering what to do, until she heard a soft cough coming from inside the house. She decided to give a soft knock on the door and waited. It stayed quiet. She tried again.  
In the distance she could hear the soft sound of footsteps approaching, but the door stayed shut.

"Regina, it's me Emma." She whispered while leaning her head against the door.  
"Please open. I'm worried about you."

Nothing.

"I got you breakfast"  
She shook the brown paper bag in her hand as proof.

The woman at the other side, didn't know if she should feel loved or ashamed by what was happening.  
She looked like hell, and she couldn't face the woman she so suddenly sent away the night before. But on the other hand, she felt alone and miserable. Maybe some company would do her good.

She reached for the doorknob and opened it just enough to see the sincere look in Emma's eyes. That was all it took to grand her further access.

"Please come in" It was barely a whisper.  
She closed the door quickly behind her, afraid that anyone would see her like this.

For a moment Emma was lost for words. She honestly didn't think she would get this far.  
"I brought some sandwiches" she tried again.

"I'm not hungry"

"Then stare at them for all I care. But we are going to sit down and talk, and I'm not leaving until you do."

"Fine, in that case I hope you brought dinner as well."

Emma started to get really frustrated with this woman.  
"I'm confused Regina. What exactly happened yesterday?"

"I told you, I was tired. Probably overly dramatic. Nothing to _worry_ about."

"Bull shit, you were hurt. I saw it."

"Then why do you ask?" the queen snapped at her.

It took Emma by surprise. She stood frozen in the middle of the living room, still holding the bag of sandwiches in her hand.  
For a brief moment she considered to just turn around and leave. She faced the woman in front of her, hoping to find some sign of cooperation. Instead she found someone who clearly had a hard time standing up straight.

The queen noticed the blonde staring at her "Oh for crying out loud, don't look at me like that. It's just my back because of that damn couch!"

Emma started to laugh, clearing the tension in the air a bit.  
"I'm sorry. It's not funny...it's just...you really did sleep on the couch didn't you? That is so not like you. And don't give me that _I was tired_ crap again."

Regina closed her mouth to stop herself from saying just that.

"Come here, sit on the couch and turn your back towards me. I know a thing or two about massages"

The queen didn't feel like fighting Emma's concern any longer. She did as she was told, and sat down on the couch.  
She felt the other woman sitting down behind her, reaching out for her shoulders.  
A sudden moan escaped her mouth. _It seems that she really does know a thing or two about this._

Emma on the other hand felt her own muscles tense by the feeling of Regina's body.  
_Oh my god, what did I get myself into?_

After several minutes she noticed Regina's body was getting limp.  
She continued the massage until she was pretty sure the woman in front of her was fast asleep.  
_Well that was very useful, now she's sleeping on that damn couch again!_

She didn't know what came over her in that instant, but she slowly pulled Regina towards her in a tight embrace.  
The fear of her waking her up, was soon dismissed when she noticed the woman nuzzling closer to her.

Having had hardly any sleep herself, Emma could feel her eyelids growing heavier before she finally surrendered to a well deserved rest.


	10. Chapter 10

It couldn't have been more than an hour before Emma woke up from the sound of a phone buzzing on the table.  
Her partner in crime stirred in her arms, clearly not planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

She stretched her arm trying to grab the phone, but there was no way she could reach it.  
The buzzing continued until the phone reached the edge of the table and fell off it, waking up Regina with a bang.

She jumped up and looked around in confusion and shame.  
"I'm so sorry! I...I..."

"Relax Regina, it's fine. I guess we both fell asleep."  
Emma tried to sooth her, while collecting her phone from the floor. "How is your back?"

The queen stretched and turned, smiling at the non-existing pain.  
"A lot better it seems. Thank you."

"Listen I gotta go, the station called so I guess I'm needed elsewhere. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine _doctor._"

Emma gave her a pleased smile before making her way towards the exit.  
"And eat your sandwich!" She ordered while opening the door to face the rest of her afternoon.

Regina smiled to herself. Not only did she indeed feel a lot better. But there was something else…comfort maybe? Joy?  
Perhaps this was what friendship felt like.

* * *

Emma sat on the park bench waiting for Henry's school bus to arrive.  
Her head was still in the clouds, thanks to her little 'sleepover' with Regina. She could swear she even still smelled like her.

_Get a grip, Swan! She only lay in your arms for one hour. It's not like you actually 'slept' with her!  
_The thought alone made Emma's head spin, so that she completely missed the fact that the yellow school bus had passed her a few moments ago.

"Emma!"

She quickly turned her head to face her son.

"Finally! I've been calling your name for hours!"

"Oh really? Hours?" Suddenly, she realized she was talking to a 10-year old.  
"Come on kid, Snow probably has dinner ready."

* * *

"Do you maybe have some leftovers?" Emma asked her mother halfway through her plate.

"Sure, but don't you think you should finish that first?" Snow asked, pointing at Emma's half eaten quiche.

"I meant for Regina." She prepared herself for a wave of complaints, but none came.  
"She wasn't feeling well today. I want to give her some food so she doesn't have to …"

"It's fine Emma." Snow interrupted her. "Just fine."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the table, until Henry broke it with some story about school.  
While he and his granddad talked about his recent history lesson, Emma made a great effort to meet her mother's eyes, hoping to find some sign of support. But Snow White kept her eyes focused on her own plate, refusing to meet her daughter's gaze.

After dinner, Emma made her way into the kitchen, in hopes of clearing the air.  
Without saying a word, she picked up a clean towel and started drying the dishes her mother was washing. They stayed like that for several minutes, until Emma couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Why are you so angry with me?" She tried to face her mother, who kept her eyes focused on her task.  
"Just tell me what I did wrong?"

The other woman let out a soft sigh before dropping a glass into the sink.  
Without lifting her head, she whispered only one word.  
"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why her?" The question came out louder than she had intended.  
She looked around making sure her husband and grandson hadn't heard her, before continuing in a much quieter voice.  
"Of all the women in this town – why her, Emma?"

"How did you kn…?" Emma was beyond confused.  
Had she really been this obvious?

"I am not stupid Emma. I know that look. You're smitten!"

Emma turned away her head in shame. It felt like betrayal towards her family.  
Why couldn't she fall head over heels with Ruby or Belle? They were pretty, smart, nice. A hell of a lot nicer then Regina for sure.

"I can't help it. It just happened."

Snow noticed the conflict in her daughter's eyes. It made her realize once again, that love works in mysterious ways.  
"I'm sorry. It came out all wrong. I…I tried to talk to you about it the other day. But you just pushed me away."

"Yeah, you are my mother remember? You asked me to act more like your daughter. Well, I guess this is me trying. I keep the secrets, and you will try to find them out." The comic relief was more than welcome at this point.

"Does she feel the same about you?"  
Although Snow was afraid of what the answer might be, she had to know. _God, Christmas will be so awkward!_

"No…I mean, probably not. I only just figured it out myself"

Her mother gave an obvious sigh of relief.

"Well thanks for that!" Her daughter sarcastically stated.

"I'm sorry, you're right. But I have got to be honest with you, I'm really not happy about this! And it has nothing to do with the fact that she's a woman. In fact, before I met your father I…"

"Ok fine. Please stop! Mother-daughter relationship remember? You've had sex _once,_ 29 years ago. That's it, no more!"  
Emma threw her towel onto the counter and withdrew herself from the kitchen, leaving a very amused Snow behind.

A few minutes later her mom joined her, and the rest of the family, in the living room.  
"Here." She handed Emma a Tupperware with the remainder of their vegetable quiche. "She just has to put it in the oven for another 20 minutes."

The gesture made Emma realize, this was the first time she actually felt like a daughter to the woman.  
It meant the world to her knowing that Snow accepted her choice.  
"Thank you. I'm sure she will love it." She tried to sound sincere, making sure her mother would read her gratitude.

James and Henry looked at each other in utter confusion.  
"You do realize it's just food right?" James reminded them, which resulted in a '_tss men' _kind of look from the two women.

* * *

"You look a lot better this evening."  
Emma's words were welcomed with a broad smile from the dark haired beauty before her.

"Hi mom!" Henry gave her a hug and walked inside the house.

"I guess I had a wonderful power-nap." Regina admitted to her former blonde-pillow.

Emma shyly bit her lip. Oh how she wished she was back on that couch with her.  
"I brought some food for you. I wasn't sure if you were up for cooking." She handed Regina the Tupperware.

"Always looking after me." Her eyes locked with the sheriff.

"Always." She replied.  
Emma turned on her heels, dragging herself away from the queen's porch.  
"I really should get going. Snow is dying for some mother-daughter time I'm afraid. So...enjoy the food. Oh and 20 minutes in the oven!"

"Thank you."

Regina closed the door after Emma reached the end of her path.  
Leaning against it, holding her Tupperware tight, she sigh deeply.

_I should have asked her in. Should I have? No that would be stupid. I have spent enough time with her these past few days. I shouldn't overdo it._  
She got herself together and decided to warm up her quiche.

When the oven pinged, she took her dinner out and sat down at the table.  
She let her mind wander to the events from the past 48 hours.  
It had been a rollercoaster of emotions. Some too painful to bring back up, others just very confusing. Yet strangely enough, she felt good about them.  
She never had a close friend before. And the way this friendship, or whatever you'd like to call it, made her feel...well, it was confusing to say the least.

She decided to send a message to Emma, to thank her for the food.

When Emma saw Regina's name popping up on her screen, she opened it with trembling hands.  
_I forgot how much I hate this feeling. Just act normal!_

_** - Please thank your mother for the food. It was lovely. Regina**_

**Why do you assume it was Snow who made it? Maybe I did.**

_**- Did you?**_

**Well no. But so you know…I can cook!**

_**- And I suppose I should just take your word for it?**_

Emma stared at the message for some time. _Oh Madam Mayor, you're too obvious. _  
**How about I'll show you my cooking skills on Friday?**

_**- Looking forward to it.**_

Emma jumped up and down her bed, squeaking like a little girl.

"Let me guess…" A voice brought her back to reality.  
Her mother was standing in the doorway, waiting for her daughters reply. A reply which she actually didn't really want to hear.

"I'm going to cook for her this Friday!"

Snow shook her head in disbelieve.  
"Emma, she has done a lot of horrible things, and I really don't like this woman very much. But _nobody_ deserves that kind of punishment!"

Snow closed the door just in time to escape the pillow flying at her.


	11. Chapter 11

"So how are my 2 favorite lovebirds doing?"  
Ruby put down a cup of hot cocoa in front of her friend.

Emma gave her one of her best grins in reply.

"That good eh?"

"Kind off. Well I mean at least it's not bad or anything. So I guess that makes it good. Right?"  
Without waiting for an answer, she rambled on. "And…I've told Snow. Well told, she guessed actually."

"I know." The red-loving beauty admitted.  
"She came to me for advice the other day."

"She did what? When?!" The shock of that information made Emma burn her lips on the still too hot cocoa.  
"What did you tell her?"

"Don't worry Emm! I told her she should talk to you about it. But when she asked me if I knew _anything_, I just couldn't lie to her."

Emma let out a frustrated moan while dropping her head on the table in front of her.

"I am still your mothers friend remember? I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here."

"I know I know. And you're right. There wasn't much else you could have done." She mumbled against the table.

Ruby took a seat at the booth, putting an arm around her friend.  
"So how did she take it?"

Emma sat back up, suddenly remembering she was the sheriff of this town, not some 8 year old that didn't get the ice-cream she wanted.  
"Well, I think she's ok with it. I mean, she doesn't love the idea. But she's not angry or anything. Then again, it's not like Regina and I are actually dating. I just like her...a lot. We might have dinner dates, and the other day we slept together, but..."

"Excuse me? Rewind... You did what?!"  
Ruby sat closer to her. "Gimme all the dirty details, and you better have a damn good reason for not telling me sooner!"

Emma jumped at the sudden gossip attack. "Relax Rubes! When I said sleep I actually meant SLEEP"  
The dark haired woman backed down in disappointment.

"She wasn't feeling well, slept on the couch, had a sore back, and I gave her a massage. She then fell asleep in my arms...sort of..."

"Oh...my...god! THAT'S GREAT NEWS!"

"And why exactly is this great news?"  
Emma tried the cocoa again, feeling the sweet sensation entering her mouth. For a brief moment everything seemed flawless.

"Don't you get it? She obviously doesn't mind being close to you. How else could she fall asleep? She trusts you, feels comfortable enough to sleep in your arms. For her, that is a big deal Emma.

Suddenly it hit her._ Ruby is right, this was a big deal. Not just for her, but it must be for Regina as well._

She jumped up from the booth and thanked her friend.  
"I need to learn how to cook!" And just like that she stormed out of the diner.

"What was that all about?" Granny appeared out of nowhere next to her waitress, watching the sheriff's dramatic exit.

"I honestly have no idea anymore." The perplexed girl answered.

* * *

Emma started freaking out on her way home._ I have to learn how to cook, I need to feed her. I have never cooked a proper meal in my life! What should I make? What does she like? Oh my god...what DOES she like?  
_She reached into her pocket for her phone, and decided to do the unthinkable: Just ask.

**Do you have any allergies, or dislikes? Emma**

- **_I am not so good with cats. And I dislike snow (the weather that is). R_**

**I was talking about food!**

Regina had to laugh; she couldn't believe Emma fell for that.  
- **_You should have been more specific dear._**

Emma felt a rush running through her veins. She had been called '_dear'_ often by the woman. But somehow, it felt completely different now.  
Before she could ask her about the food again, the next message came in.

**_I'm fine with anything. Surprise me.  
_**

* * *

**__**

During the next few days Emma prepared herself for their dinner date. She kept a pile of cooking books in her room, with dozen of post-it's in-between the pages with potential recipes.  
Her goal was to make something easy, yet impressive looking. So far, she had no success in finding something.

"Sn..mom!" Emma called after her mother who just walked past her room.  
"Is it really difficult to make a stew?"

Her mother came in and sat down beside her, reading the recipe her daughter held in her lap.  
"Don't try that honey. You need to have some experience for that."

Emma let out a frustrated moan.  
"I'm never going to be able to find something I can actually cook."

"Why don't you just make a fondue? Everybody loves cheese fondue."

"Really? A fondue? I told her I can 'cook'."  
She started going through another book, in the hopes of having missed something awesome earlier.

Snow put her hand on the flipping pages to stop her daughter from going insane.  
"If she likes you, she won't mind. Your dad is a terrible cook, yet I love him."

Emma knew she should just give up. It was better to accept your defeat, then to kill the woman you love with your cooking skills.  
"Fondue. Ok, I suppose that might work."

Snow got up from the bed, feeling proud for saving her daughter from a stressful cooking experience.  
"I will get you a recipe for fondue."

"There are recipes for fondue?" Emma immediately felt the stress return.

* * *

"Emma Emma Emma!" Henry ran towards his mother as soon as she came home from work.

"Where's the fire?" She looked around to make sure there wasn't one. You can never be too careful with a 10 year old around.

"Grandma and granddad are taking me camping tomorrow! How cool is that? We're going fishing, and we're gonna roast marshmallows and..."

Emma recounted the days in her head, yep it was definitely Thursday today.  
"I was going to cook for you and your mom tomorrow."

At that moment Snow appeared from around the corner.  
"Regina probably wouldn't mind right? You can have the fondue together?" She gave her daughter a wink.

Emma smiled the biggest smile possible.  
"I think that might be ok."

Henry ran back to James to get some more camping-planning done.

"Thank you." Emma told her mom.  
"You really didn't have to do this, I know how difficult this is for you."

"It is, but it would be even more difficult not to be involved at all." She gave her daughter a hug.  
"I hope you'll have a nice time tomorrow."

"Yeah, me too." She started to get worried now. Just the two of them at one table? Making conversation?  
"I should let her know about the change of plans."

The queen got interrupted by the sound of her phone, while reading one of the many books that kept her busy during the day.  
She put it aside and read Emma's name on the display.

**Is it ok if Henry goes camping with my parents tomorrow? We can still have dinner together. Emma**

At first she felt extremely irritated, but that was soon forgotten when she realized Emma didn't want to cancel their plans.  
- **_Does that mean we can actually have dinner at your place? Regina_**

Emma hadn't even thought of that yet. She invited Regina for dinner while she lived with her parents! Smart thinking.

**I guess so. If you're ok with that?**

- **_I could really use a change of scenery, so yes.  
_**


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning Emma decided to take the day off. She was on stand-by in case anything might happen to the town. But she made it clear that she didn't want to be disturbed if it was for anything less than Godzilla feasting on the townspeople.  
And in Storybrooke, that wouldn't be entirely impossible.

Today, there was a much more important urgency on her hands. Clean the house and prepare for dinner.  
There wouldn't be any interruptions. Her parents would take Henry camping right after school. So she had plenty of time to polish her silverware, make a kick-ass playlist on her iPod and get dressed.__

When everything was done, she finally went into the kitchen to start on her 'cooking'.  
Like a true sheriff, she eyed the package of cheese and took out the pan.  
_I can do this, I can stir! I'm gonna stir like I've never stirred before._

After almost burning the cheese, dropping the tomatos and breaking a plate, Emma found herself all ready for her guest. Who was, as always, perfectly on time.  
As soon as she heard the doorbell, she waited a few seconds before opening the door, trying to steady her breathing a bit.  
_Come on, you can do this._

"Hey welcome, right on time as always."  
She smiled as she took in the person before her. _God she looks wonderful._

"Of course Miss Swan. You said 6 right?"

"We've slept together; you can call me Emma now."  
She choked on her own words. "I mean, **sleep**. The couch...you know..."

"I know. I would have recalled otherwise." Regina replied witty.

_Jeez_, _why the formality? Maybe she's disappointed about Henry's absence after all?  
_"Henry was so excited about his camping trip. I hope it wasn't on too short notice?"

Regina understood the reason for Emma's question. _I'm such an idiot. Stop frightening the poor girl._  
"It's really fine...Emma. I'm glad he finally got the chance to go camping. He's been asking me for years, but it's not really my cup of tea."

"You know, I make a mean camp side!"  
Emma imagined them together in a tent, watching the stars, waking up near a lake. _Heaven._

"Don't push your luck. I've agreed to dinner, camping is never gonna happen. No matter how _mean_ your camp-side is."  
She added a bit of laughter to her words in order to make the sarcasm clear. When she still saw the confusion in Emma's eyes she quickly handed her the bottle of wine the brought.  
"You liked it the other day. Thought I might bring one."

"Thank you." Emma accepted it, pushing aside the memory of driving all over town to find this exact brand.  
"Please sit down. Food is ready."

They walked towards the wonderfully set table, which contained a lovely bouquet of flowers, lots of candles and a pot.

Regina looked at the pot.  
"Fondue?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah about the cooking...I realized that I can't do it."

They shared a glance until Regina started laughing.  
"You know, I actually never had cheese fondue before. So, it seems you did succeed in surprising me."

"I always keep my promises."

They sat down at the table, while Emma started to explain the fondue to her future wife.  
It wasn't rocket science, but it made her 'cooking' sound a bit more interesting than it actually was.  
They toasted on a good evening, and started attacking their food.

Everything started off fine, but after a while it turned into something that slightly resembled fishing.

"I've lost my piece of courgette again!" Regina pouted while moving her fondue stick around the pot.

"Here, let me." Emma started searching for the lost piece of food, while trying to keep her hair cheese-free.  
When she found it, she carefully lifted it out of the sticky cheese, making it 'bite-ready' for her woman.

She held the piece in front of Regina, silently asking her to take the bite.  
For a moment she thought this might have been a bad idea, but before she knew it, Regina bend over and let herself be fed by the woman who so heroically saved her courgette.

Emma was stunned she actually got away with it.  
_Think of something to say, think of something to say. Say something Swan!  
_  
"Lovely." The dark haired woman stated when she tried to chew on the still too hot food.  
"Very cheesy."

_The cheese was lovely. Of course she was talking about the cheese. Not you feeding her. That's just plain weird.  
_"I'm glad you like the fondue. I really didn't know what to cook. I got all nervous about it"  
_Why am I telling her this?_

"Why were you nervous dear?"

Emma was hoping she wouldn't have picked up on that.  
"Well you know..." She took a big gulp from her wine to buy more time. "...it would be awful if you would think I'd underfed Henry."

"I know your mother always provides for dinner. I have a spying device remember?"

Emma started looking around the room in a panic.

"Henry." Regina quickly told her. "I meant Henry. He tells me things."  
She saw the relieve in her friend's eyes, which made her giggle. _I don't giggle!_

Emma gave a sigh of relief.  
"So...what else does he tell you?"

"Let's see, he told me you have been attacking cooking books with Post-It memo's for the past few days."

Emma's face turned red.  
"He told you that? Great. I guess it must have been quite a disappointment when you saw the fondue?"

"On the contrary. The fact that you were so stressed out over it really meant a lot to me."

Emma's eyes lit up. The butterflies in her stomach went mad, and her mind started racing.

"I'm really flattered you made such an effort. It made me realize we are truly becoming friends."  
She waited for her friend's reply, which didn't come.  
"I hope it's ok if I call you my friend. I mean, I'm not really familiar with the whole concept."

Emma was pretty sure Regina could see her fall off her cloud, and into the hole in the ground which seemed to have appeared right under her chair.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Emma climbed out of the imaginary hole and got herself together.  
"No, of course not. It's...it's good to hear you feel that way." She took a deep breath, and smiled at the woman in front of her.  
"I would really like to be your friend Regina."  
_Maybe this is for the best.  
_

* * *

__

**Part 2 of this ****_very_**** successful date will be up soon!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Again thank you all for the nice reviews! :-)**

**Hope you'll enjoy part 2 of their dinner/date.  
**

* * *

After their rather successful fondue, well at least the food itself was, Emma took their plates back into the kitchen.  
She quickly checked her phone, to see if she had any missed calls.  
_  
3 new messages?  
_She looked behind her to see if her company was still at the table, before she started reading them.  
_**  
- How's it going? XXR**_

_**- Is it a good sign you're not answering?**_

_**- She didn't turn you into a frog did she?**_

It made Emma smile. _How I wish I could talk to Ruby right now._  
**She just wants to be FRIENDS! :,-(**

Behind the bar at Grannies diner, a very bored Ruby opened her new message.  
_Over my dead body does she only want your friendship!  
_**_- Leave this to aunty Ruby. Be there in 15._**

Unfortunately Emma didn't read that last message, so the knock on her door came as a huge surprise.  
"Who can that be?" She said to the equally surprised ex-mayor.

"EMMA HONEY!" An overly dressed Ruby stood on the other side, winking at the stunned woman in front of her.

"Hi...Ruby...what are you doing...here?"

"Phone!" Ruby whispered.

Emma lifted her shoulders while soundlessly replying "Did...not...read!"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Just play along."

She walked passed Emma into the house and threw in her best acting skills.  
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you had company!" She gave an arrogant glance to the woman sitting at the table.  
"I thought...you know...we could...hang. Or go clubbing. Remember those nice _girls_ we saw the other day? They might be there again tonight."  
_  
Oh my god, she cannot be serious.  
_"Yeah well Ruby, as you can see, I can't." Afraid that Regina would make her exit to leave the two women alone, she quickly added. "And I _really_ don't want to. Maybe some other time."

"Nice!" Ruby proudly whispered before raising her voice again.  
"Yeah sure, I understand. Another time. No problem _sweetie_, enjoy your evening." She kissed Emma full on her mouth, which came as a complete surprise to her friend, and turned back towards her company. "Have a good evening Regina."

Emma closed the door behind her and made a mental note to kill Ruby with her father's sword first thing tomorrow.

"I am SO sorry about that." She told her guest.  
She stared at Regina trying to read her mind, but unfortunately she still didn't seem to possess that specific power.

Regina was no idiot. She's recognized bad acting when she saw it. Unfortunately for them, she was a hell of a lot better at it.  
"Listen, if you want to go with her, I can just leave."

"No no no, please don't leave. I don't want to go with her, I don't even know what she's talking about!"

Regina gave an amused smile. "Clearly about some _girls_ you've met recently."

_Shit!  
_"I honestly don't even remember. I think I wasn't even there. She probably was with Belle that night. You know, cocktails and stuff. Does weird things with your memory." She rambled on, clearly freaking out.

Regina was enjoying this immensely. So she decided to push this a bit further.  
"Right...and what _club_ was she talking about exactly?"

Emma thought for a moment, there was no club in this god forsaken town.  
_Why on earth did she say clubbing? Why not bowling? Or book-club?  
_"Grannies..Saturday…club-night?"

Regina couldn't hold in her laughter any longer.  
"You know what, next time I will join you two for Grannies club-night."  
Knowing she really had the woman's back against the wall.

At this point, Emma didn't see any reason to postpone Ruby's killing until tomorrow.  
_What the hell had she been thinking?_

Luckily Emma got saved by Regina's phone.  
Since there were only two people who would call her, and one was sitting right in front of her, she answered it.

_"Hi Mom!" _Emma could hear coming from the other side of the phone.

Regina's face always softened when she heard her son say those words.  
"Hi honey. How is camping?"

While the two of them talked, she went over to her own phone to thank Ruby for her magnificent performance.  
Before she had the chance to do so, she saw a text from her mother.  
**_- How are you doing? I let Henry call Regina so you could check your own phone._**

_She knows me too well.  
_**I'm fine. The fondue was a success. X  
**  
Emma threw her phone into a drawer so she wouldn't be disturbed again. Not that anyone was disturbing anything anyway...

When she re-appeared back into the living room, Regina was off the phone already and standing in front of the window. Staring outside.  
It had given the woman some time to think about the recent events.  
_Why would Ruby put up that terrible performance? Maybe she still doesn't trust me around Emma?  
__But why that ridiculous story?_ She couldn't quite yet figure it out.

"So..." Emma carefully announced her presence. "Is he having fun?"

Regina confirmed this and repeated Henry's story to Emma, who wasn't really paying much attention to it.  
An awkward silence followed, until Emma knew she had to do _something _to keep the evening going.

"Do you maybe want to watch a movie?"  
_Well this must be the greatest move ever!  
_  
To her surprise Regina agreed to the idea, and they made their way to the couch.

"What do you like?" She asked, hoping for a specific answer so it wouldn't be up to her to decide on a film.

"I don't know. I don't watch many movies."

_Of course you don't. This is a date from hell. Oh no wait, it's not, because it's NOT a date.  
_Emma walked over to her movie collection and started picking out a few of her favorites, which resulted in a great variation of genres.

Her eye fell on Aimee & Jaguar. _A lesbian drama…should I?  
_She considered it for a while and quickly put it at the bottom of the pile. She turned around and handed the DVDs to Regina.  
"Here, just see if there's anything you like."

Regina took them, and looked at the covers.  
"Is this an action movie?" She held up Saw.

"More like slaughter."

She received a questionable response.

"Lots of blood." Emma explained.

"Disgusting." She threw the DVD on the table.

_Ok she's almost at the bottom of the pile. Come on, look at that last one…please please please._

As if she could read Emma's mind, Regina looked at the cover of Aimee & Jaguar.  
Her eyebrows slightly rose as she turned it around to read the description. It didn't take long for her to connect the dots.  
_Ah...I think I might get the idea here. Tss tss tss...Miss Swan. I believe you are trying to tell me something.  
_She tried to hide her smirk. She was definitely flattered by this. More than she'd like to admit.

The queen cleared her throat and handed Emma the movie.  
"Sounds interesting. I want to see this one."

Emma's mouth fell open. _I can't believe that actually worked.  
_She threw in the DVD, and sat back on the couch.

During the movie Emma kept watching Regina from the corner of her eyes.  
_She seems intrigued. I think she likes the movie._

_Oh no, the sex scene is coming up soon. I completely forgot about that. I can't watch this scene with her next to me!  
__Act normal, just focus on the lamp. _She started to look upwards. _No that's weird.  
_She looked around again._ The plant, yes, plant is good._

Emma kept her eyes on the plant, afraid to turn bright red when the bedroom scene came up.

_Here it comes. This is just so awkward._ She quickly focused on the plant again, trying to keep her head cool.  
_It's an ugly plant. I wonder why Snow bought it. I think it needs water. I'm gonna give it water!  
_She shifted on the couch, almost made her move to stand up before sitting back again.  
_No I can't give it water now...I..._

"Is this making you uncomfortable Emma?"

She turned around, looking like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.  
"What? No, not at all. I just got distracted for a second. Do you happen to know what kind of plant that is?"

Regina raised an eyebrow. "You can watch slaughter movies, but no love scenes?"  
_Oh my god, she's so cute right now. Wait what?! Did I really just think that? It was in my head right?  
_She carefully eyed the blonde next to her, making sure she was still focused on her plant. _Yes good, I didn't just say that out loud._

When the scene ended, both women were able to relax again.

"Lovely movie."  
Regina was the first to speak when the end titles appeared on screen.

"I know, it's so sad." The blonde's eyes were all red.

"Have you been crying?"

"No!" Emma replied a bit too rapidly.  
"Well maybe a little. But it was really sad."

"It was." Regina pushed away the memories of her own lost love. _No time to get all emotional now.  
_She quickly emptied her glass and got up. "I really should get going. Henry might be home early tomorrow, so I shouldn't sleep in."

"Oh…of course." The blonde replied as if she didn't care.

_She sounds disappointed. Why Emma…what did you have in store for me?  
_Regina pondered for a moment._ I could stay and find out? No that would be too easy.  
_She dismissed the idea and walked towards the hallway.__

Emma waited uncomfortably while Regina put on her coat.  
_This was not a date. You're not getting kissed. She is your 'friend'._

"I had a really nice time Emma. Thank you."  
Regina stepped forwards and gave her a long hug. When they broke loose she stared into Emma's eyes for a while.  
"I'm so happy to have you as a friend." She quickly turned around and left, so that the smirk on her face wouldn't be visible to the other woman.  
_Let's just see were this is going._


	14. Chapter 14

Emma was woken by the sound of her parents' chatter.  
It was way too early for her to wake up, especially as she had been lying awake half the night.  
While the volume of their voices slowly died down, she heard footsteps coming up to her room.  
They stopped right in front of her door, which she expected to open soon. But it didn't.

"I am awake." Emma finally offered. "...and alone."

The door opened and Snow stuck her head around the corner.  
"Hi."

"Hi." The lovesick woman replied.

"How did it go?"

The blonde pulled the sheets over her head. "Awful!"

She felt her mother sitting down beside her, before she laid her hand on her back.  
Even though she hated the idea of Regina being her daughter in law, her heart broke seeing her 'little' girl like this. "What happened?"

Emma gave her the short version of their evening. Including the part where Ruby decided to play matchmaker.

"It doesn't sound all bad, honey. It sounds like you had quite a nice evening. Well besides Ruby's part." She gave a chuckle. "But even if she doesn't feel the same way about you, a friendship might not be all that bad right? Especially for your son."

She saw the sheets moving, and figured her daughter was giving her a nod in agreement.  
"Come down for lunch. We brought some fresh fish."

The idea of fresh fish made her stomach turn. She couldn't eat. She didn't want to open her eyes. She just wanted to stay in bed, and wallow in her own misery.

"Where's Emma?" David asked his wife.

Snow didn't tell him anything about what had been going on. They hadn't mentioned Emma's dating habits after the last time Snow brought it up. And she honestly thought it would be a bad idea to worry him when nothing was going on between his daughter and their nemesis.

"She will probably be down soon."

When, after an hour, there was still no sign of Emma, David stood up to see what was wrong.

"No just leave her!" Snow told him.  
"She's probably not feeling well."

"Then I will ask her if she'd like some tea." He continued to walk towards her room.

"Just leave her!"

David heard the panic in his wife's voice. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Just leave her. Please." She took a deep breath before finally explaining; "She's lovesick."

That made him turn back around again to take a seat next to his wife. "Who broke her heart?"  
He sounded overly protective. Like a true king standing up for his little princess. Nobody was allowed to hurt his daughter.

"Nobody. It seems to be unrequited love."

David calmed down, and made a sad face.  
"Poor girl. The guy is a fool not to fall for her." He expected his wife to give him some more information about the subject, but instead she jumped up and grabbed her coat.

"I gotta go! I forgot I was meeting Ruby."

* * *

"Hey Hon." The happy waitress hopped towards her dear old friend.  
"What brings you here? Did you see Emma already?"

Snow gave her a playful smack on her arm with her handbag.  
"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Hey, a simple 'yes' would have been sufficient."  
She started massaging the place where the bag had hit her.

"Emma is lovesick. The poor girl." She seemed honestly sad about it.

"Isn't that what you kind of wanted?" Ruby reminded her truthfuly.

"Too see her like this? Absolutely not."

"Poor thing indeed." Ruby leaned against a table, letting her mind ponder over her next awesome matchmaking move.

"Don't you dare!" Snow knew her friend like the back of her hand.  
"Just let them figure this one out for themselves. True love will always find it's way."

"True love eh? You really think that's what it is?"

"It would make sense." Snow met her eyes. "For once the whole damn thing would make sense."

* * *

When hunger started to kick in, Emma finally managed to drag herself out of bed.

"Hey you're up!" Her father folded his newspaper and put it aside. His daughter needed his full attention.

"Yeah, I'm hungry."

He got up and made his way into the kitchen.  
"Sit down, I'm going to make something for you. Comfort-food."

Emma got a bit scared by that idea. Not only the food-making part. But the part where he thought she needed 'comfort-food'. What did he know?  
"Thank you." She replied neutrally, hoping he would leave it at that.

While he started taking out pots and pans, he tried to talk some sense into her.  
"You know. This guy, whoever he is, is a real idiot for letting you go."

"What guy?" Emma replied automatically. She met her father's eyes and suddenly realized what he was talking about. "You spoke to mom."

"Yes she told me. You know, maybe it's not as easy as talking to your mother, but you can tell me stuff as well."

She felt awful for lying to him. But she didn't want him to know she loved the woman who ruined everyone's life. Especially when her love wasn't being answered anyway.  
"I know. I'm sorry. But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm fine." She tried to convince him with a smile, which was answered by him while he put down a nice bowl of soup.

"Come on. Let's eat."

Emma felt a lot better after her lunch. They talked about the camping trip, and it made her forget about 'whatshername' completely.

She hit the shower and metaphorically washed away her troubles.  
After that she got dressed, and went outside to visit the library.  
It was a perfect day for reading a good book in the park., and for forgetting all about Regina.

Belle had done a great job on renovating and re-opening the library. It looked amazing.  
There was a lovely lounge corner with an espesso machine. Which was great for rainy days. And she had a cute little kids corner with toys and childrens books.

She looked at the sign on the wall, and decided to pay a visit to the detective section.

"Emma!"

She turned around to face her friend who was carrying a large pile of books.  
"Hi Belle."

"How is it going?" The library owner asked the blonde, while putting back the books in alphabetical order.

"I'm fine. Just finding something to read in the park."  
She started browsing the shelves for something she hadn't read yet. Since they couldn't leave town, there had been no new books for the past 28 years.

The other woman didn't reply. Instead she was in deep thought about something that had happened earlier. "Emma?" She finally started. "What is Granny's club-night?"

Shocked, Emma dropped a book she had just been about to open.  
"Excuse me?"

"This morning Regina came over to return some books. She told me something about Granny's club-night, and that she got it from you."

Emma had completely forgotten about that.  
"Right. You don't know? I ehhh...I completely forgot to do _something_. I ehhh...I'm sorry Belle. Gotta go." Without further thinking she ran out, still holding a few books in her arms.

"You have to check those out at the front desk!" Belle yelled after her.

Emma was lost in her own thoughts, completely ignoring Belle.  
She crossed the street and went over to Granny's in one straight line.

"Ruby!" She opened the doors to the diner.  
She came to a halt in front of the waitress. "We have to organize a club-night."


	15. Chapter 15

The rumour about Granny's club-night, had spread like a wildfire.  
Everyone was talking about it, and after some convincing even Granny herself thought it might be a good idea.

As soon as they had set the date, Emma sent out a message to Regina.  
Going through with this plan wasn't necessarily another attempt at winning the other woman's heart. She just didn't want the truth to come out because of this stupid lie. That was _really_ the only reason.

**Are you free this saturday? It's club-night again. Emma**

Regina was shocked. _She actually went through with it? Who would have thought?  
_**_- I'm impressed Sheriff. Wouldn't miss it for the world._**

_Impressed? What is that supposed to mean?  
_**Wonderful. See you then.**

* * *

When Saturday had finally arrived, Ruby, Emma and Belle were working hard on the preparations.

"I still don't get it." Belle admitted. "According to Regina, you already held a club-night. And apparently, I was there."

Ruby, who was balancing on a chair in order to hang up the decoration, thought it was best to come clean about it. "Emma wanted to impress someone, and I thought I was helping her. Yet here we are organizing a big fat lie."

"Really?" Belle smiled. She loved a good romance. "Who is it?" She whispered.

"I've said enough."

She pouted her lips in disappointment.  
"Will he be here tonight?"

"Yes."  
Emma saved her friend from digging her hole of lies any deeper.  
"And no, I won't tell you who it is." She added as soon as Belle wanted to speak again.

She immediately closed her mouth, which made her kind of look like a goldfish on dry land.  
"Fine...I will figure it out tonight."

* * *

Around 10PM, the townspeople started to make their way towards the diner. Within an hour the place was packed with people ready to party.

"This is a huge success!" Ruby squeaked to Emma while jumping up and down to some 90s dance tune.  
"Is she here already?"

Emma, who hadn't moved her eyes from the door, shook her head in defeat.  
"I don't think she's coming anymore."

"Of course she is. Don't worry. She's probably just delayed. Maybe her babysitter was late."

"Her babysitter is standing right over there." Emma pointed out a girl at the back of the 'club'.  
Which made her wonder; "Who's watching Henry?"

"Your parents are."

Emma turned around, recognizing that beautiful deep voice anywhere.  
"You're here." Emma stated.

"You're so sharp Miss Swan!" The dark haired woman replied sarcastically.  
"So, this is club-night." She leered around the diner. "Is it always this crowded?"

Emma and Ruby started to stumble over their own words, and Regina was pretty sure she wasn't going to get bored with this any time soon.

"Let me get you a drink." Emma ran off to the bar, leaving Ruby alone with the queen.

"Great." Red mumbled.

"What was that _dear_?"

"I said, this is a _great_ success!"

Regina started laughing. "Yes it is. Who would have thought wolfs would be just as loyal as dogs. You created a mess, yet you managed to save her ass. It's quite impressive."

Ruby knew Regina was on to her, but she didn't want to make a scene for the sake of Emma.  
"Next full moon, I advice you to sleep with one eye open." She kept on dancing like they were having a normal healthy conversation.

Before Regina got a chance to reply to that threat, Emma jumped in to save the day with three shot glasses.  
"Tequila anyone?"

"How barbaric." Regina reached for the glass, and held the liquid under her nose, inhaling the substance.  
"And disgusting."

Emma gave her a lemon. "Here, you put the salt on you hand, lick it, drink it, and bite the lemon."

Regina gave her a smirk. "Really Miss Swan? Lick, drink, bite?"

The sheriff swallowed hard. "Yeah, like this." With one smooth movement, she licked the salt, emptied the glass and bit the lemon. The sensation made her shudder, she could feel it making it's way through her body, until it finally reached her head. Which is exactly where she really needed it the most right now.  
_I'm gonna need more of these._

Ruby followed her example with an equally smooth movement, and they both faced Regina in great expectation.

"Give me your hand dear." The queen held out her own hand in front of Emma who looked at her in confusion. "You don't expect me to put this stuff on my own hand are you? It's filthy."

With a trembling hand, Emma reached out to the one in front of her. Which right away gripped her tight.  
Regina turned it towards her, threw on some salt, and met Emma's eyes.  
"Please hold it still, I refuse to lick the floor."

She bent over to lick the salt of Emma's hand, drank the Tequila and bit her lemon. All without ever loosing eye-contact with the woman in front of her.

Emma's mouth felt dry, she was pretty sure it would hurt if she tried to swallow right now.  
She moved her lips, but no sound came out. The way she pointed towards the bar, made her friends assume she was getting them a refill.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ruby angrily asked the woman.  
"I swear, if you hurt her, I will..."

"Who says I'm going to hurt her Miss Lucas?"

Ruby's angry expression didn't change.

Regina rolled her eyes and let out a loud groan. "I am **really** not going to hurt her."

For the first time, Ruby thought she might actually be telling the truth.  
"I'll keep an eye on you."

At that moment Emma reappeared again, holding another three glasses of Tequila.  
Ruby emptied hers before they had the chance to toast, and walked away.  
"I'm gonna mingle."

"What's her problem?" Emma asked.

"Ruby!" Belle pushed herself through the crowd to get to her friend.  
"Isn't this great?" She kept on dancing to the music, while looking around the room.

"Yeah, it's great." Her friend was still a bit annoyed by the way she got told off by Regina. The person this whole damn party was for in the first place. _She is such a bitch. I really don't understand what Emma sees in her anymore._

Belle came closer to speak into her ear. "Is he here?"

"Who?"

"Emma's lover of course!" She kept glancing around the room for any sign of the mystery man.

"Yeah _he's_ here." Red mumbled annoyed.

"He is? Who is it? She's only talking to Regina the whole time." Belle gave it a thought.  
"I have to get her away from there."

Before Ruby could stop her, Belle made her way towards the two women.  
"Regina!" She waved from a distance. As soon as she turned around to see who was yelling her name so unflatteringly, Belle made a movement with her hands to come over.

With much annoyance, Regina started to make her way towards the girl who, she wished, would still be locked up right now.  
"What is it Belle?"

She hadn't really thought this part through yet. What on earth could be so important that she _had_ to tell the woman?! "I ehh, was just wondering...how you were doing!" It couldn't have come out any more awkward than it did.

Regina tried to give her an even more annoyed look. "I'm fine. If that was all, I'm going to return to Miss Swan now."

Belle quickly grabbed Regina's arm to stop her from walking away. "I'm also doing fine!"

The queen slowly turned around, trying very hard not to kill the woman who had immediately pulled away her hand in shock. "You better have a damn good reason for this."

Belle tried to avoid her eyes, trying to think of something valid to say.  
"There's somebody here that Emma likes. And I'm trying to figure out who it is. So I was hoping, now that you're here, and not there, she would go over and talk to him."

Regina's death-stare changed into something else. Something Belle couldn't quite place.  
Was she mocking her? Was she amused by this?

The queen started laughing. "Out of all people, I thought you would be the one to recognize the love between a beauty and a beast." She threw it out before she realized what she was actually saying to the girl. _Love?!  
_"If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to Miss Swan."

Ruby had watched the whole thing from a distance. She couldn't hear everything, but it sounded like Regina was saying she loved her friend.

"She is SUCH a bitch!" Belle returned to Ruby who felt a lot better after hearing this new information. "Why are you laughing? Did you hear what she was saying? It's SO rude!"

"Oh yeah, I heard." Ruby looked at the smaller woman. "You really don't get it do you?"

"Get what?"

"Look at the way those two are talking to each other."  
She tipped her head in the direction of Emma and her love interest

Belle slowly turned her head, watching them. Seeing the way they were looking at each other, smiling at each other, making excuses to touch each other.  
"Oh..."

Ruby couldn't stop herself from laughing about Belle's sudden realization.  
She patted her back. "Believe me, you did well."

When Regina returned to her previous spot, she leaned closer to her friend._  
_"I just had a very interesting conversation with the girl."

"Really?" Emma started to get nervous."About what?"

_Oh like you don't know!  
_"Apparently, there is somebody here that you're in love with. Or like. Which is it anyway?"

"She said that?" Emma started shifting nervously from one foot to the other, trying to find a comfortable position for the hell that was about to break loose.

"Yes." The older woman kept quiet, just looking around, pretending to find this _mystery-man_. "If I'm holding you back from making a move, I can just join your friends over there." Pointing towards Ruby and Belle, who quickly turned around as if they haven't been watching them this whole time.

"Oh no," The blonde started. "It's nothing. I...I...there's nobody."

Regina lifted an eyebrow. "Fine. I'm going to get a drink and talk to some people. I'll see you later." She gave her a smile, and walked over to the bar leaving a confused Emma by herself.

Regina decided to stay at the bar for a while, since there was nobody she wanted to talk to anyway. Unlike Emma, who was surrounded by people as soon as she had left.

The ex-mayor couldn't keep her eyes of the blonde tonight. _She looks absolutely stunning.  
_Before her mind could wander any further, there was a tab on her shoulder. She turned around and faced the woman who had just threatened her. "Don't you have some house to blow down?"

Ruby counted to three, and took a deep breath while reminding herself who she was doing this for.  
"Can I ask you something?"

Regina didn't reply, because she knew the question would come anyway.

"Do you like her?"

The former mayor took a sip from her drink, and started to fumble with the glass in her hand. It had always been a nervous habit of hers. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters. You know she likes you. I honestly don't know _why_, but well...she does." The expression on the other woman's face instantly hardened by her words.  
"If you like her, then why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Playing her." It was obvious what she had meant.

"I'm not _playing_ her."  
Regina knew it was a lie. She _was_ playing the poor girl. Just not for the reason Ruby would think.  
She was scared. And that alone had scared her even more. There was nothing in this world that she was afraid of. Yet, she was afraid of Emma Swan. Afraid the woman would break her heart. _Could_ break her heart.

The younger woman tried to figure out what was going on in the queen's mind.  
"Please don't hurt her, Regina." She waited until she received some sort of conformation.

Instead Regina opened her mouth to speak again. "Ruby," It was the first time she actually called the woman by her name. "I...Does...I mean, is she serious?" She wished she could take back the question. The answer could change everything. But it was already out there. Lingering between the two women.

Ruby noticed the conflict within the woman, and touched her hand to make sure the following words would reach her.  
"She is head over heels Regina."


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you so much for the latest reviews!**

* * *

"Where is she?" Emma asked her friends who were dancing shamelessly to Wham.

Ruby looked around the diner as if Emma hadn't thought of doing that herself.  
"I don't know. Last time I saw her was..." She looked at her watch. "...half an hour ago."

Emma walked to the coat stand, and saw Regina's coat still hanging there.  
She asked a bunch of people if they had seen her, but apparently nobody had paid any attention to the ex-mayor.

She decided to wait another 10 minutes before texting her. After checking her watch for the 100th time in three minutes, she decided she had waited long enough.  
**Where are you?**

The phone in Regina's hand buzzed. She lifted it up to see the blonde's name popping up.  
She waited impatiently for the traffic light to hit green, and crossed the road that was leading to the docks.  
The fresh air would be able to clear her head, or at least she hoped it would. She had left the diner as soon as Ruby told her _that_. Why on earth did she had to ask? Things were so complicated now.

At first there was the flirting, which was fun. And she had definitely enjoyed the teasing that soon followed. Especially when she realized the effect it had on the sheriff.

But _this_ was never part of the plan! Emma wasn't supposed to get all serious about it. And she sure as hell didn't mean to actually like the woman back.

She leaned on the railing of the docks, staring at her reflexion in the water. _Oh god what have I done? She likes me. And worse, I like her! Oh my god I actually like her._

There is no way she could ever love me back, not for long anyway. She realized she sounded like her mother now. Always being negative about the subject. It had ruined her.

Regina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. With trembling hands she opened the message and replied.  
**_- Meet me upstairs at Granny's in 20 minutes._**

After that she opened a new message.  
**Ruby, could you do me a favour?****__**

Emma looked at her phone completely flabbergasted.  
_Upstairs? Is that where she went? Although, if she did, then why wait 20 minutes?_

Ruby had also read Regina's message, and knew exactly what to do. She looked for her friend, and realized she was on her way to the stairs already. _Dammit, you're so impatient!_  
She jumped up on a chair and yelled the first thing that came to her mind; "BODY SHOOOOTS!"  
It made Emma stop in her tracks and turn around in confusion.

Ruby quickly pushed herself trough the crowd, and dragged Emma towards the bar.

"Oh nononono!" The blonde started to panic. "I can't...I...sheriff...authority..."

"Fine," Her wolf-friend replied. "Then at least help me get through this."  
She jumped on the bar and lay down. The row of men that had started to form in front of her, made her regret this plan immensely. Belle noticed the fear in her friend's eyes, and rescued her by taking the first shot.

There was salt on Ruby's stomach, and a lemon in her mouth.  
Belle swallowed hard when she realized what a 'body shot' actually was.

"Ok...yeah...I can do this!" She told herself.

She bent over and slowly licked the salt of her friend's body. For a moment it seemed like the whole room had quieted down in shock. She threw back the Tequila, and dove onto the lime that Ruby held in her mouth.

Emma watched the whole thing without ever blinking. _Why is this turning me on?_ She shook her head to get rid of the image, and returned to focus on her watch. _Only 5 minutes have passed?! Great._

"You're a life-saver" Ruby whispered to the woman who had just licked her body.  
"Now please keep this going, and whatever happens...don't let Emma go upstairs!"

Belle didn't understand any of this, but these past 24 hours she had learned not to ask.  
"Come on people! My turn!" She yelled.

Ruby quietly made her way upstairs, making sure Emma was kept busy at the bar.

After a while the blonde really had enough of this. "I have to go!" She told the friend, who was lying on the bar trying to hold off the crowd.

"NO! You need to stay...you know...as a sheriff."

"Excuse me?"

"Because...I don't trust _that _guy!" She randomly pointed out a person in the crowd.

"Marco?!"

"No next to him."

"Archie?" Emma started to get slightly annoyed by her stalling.  
"Belle, _why_ are you doing this?"

Her eyes widened. "I honestly have no idea."

_Strange. She's not even lying.  
_"Look I really should get going."

"What did I miss?" Ruby jumped in between them, grinning at the fact that everything seemed to have turned out fine.

"Thank god you're back!" Belle couldn't have sounded happier. "You can go now..." She started pushing Emma away, and lay down on the bar again.

_"Do me Ruby!"  
_Emma heard her friend scream, and she rolled her eyes. _I really hope somebody has this on camera._  
_  
_She left the crowd and finally made her way towards the stairs, wondering if Regina was already waiting for her. When she reached the top, there was no sign of the woman. She started pacing around in circles, wondering if she had misunderstood the message.

Her pacing came to a stop, when she heard footsteps approaching her.

Regina stood a few meters away, suddenly feeling her nerves kicking in. She slowly moved towards the woman, wondering if this hallway had always been this long, until she came to a halt right in front of her.

"Where did you go?" Emma asked with a trembling voice.

"Outside. I needed some fresh air."

"You feeling better?"

Regina shook her head. Suddenly feeling courageous, she stepped closer to the woman in front of her, and crashed her lips again Emmas. Neither of them dared to move, which made Regina break off the kiss and take a step back as if she'd done something horrible.

Emma was in shock. Did the queen just kiss her? That's so unlike her, unless...  
"How did you...?"

"...know?" Regina lifted an eyebrow. "Are you questioning my intelligence, Emma?"

The sheriff just stood there, tongue-tied, in every meaning of the word

"Please close your mouth dear, before I start questioning yours."

The familiar arrogance brought Emma back to earth. "Right away putting your guards back up, right?"

"Well," The queen admitted. "You did not return my...kiss. So, I kind of feel rejected."

Emma slowly invaded her personal space, and cupped the other woman's cheek.  
"No you don't. You know exactly what I want."  
She started hovering her lips over the deep red ones in front of her, trying very hard not to touch them.  
"How long have you known?" She whispered against the mouth she so desperately needed to taste.

Regina couldn't believe she just asked her that.  
"Now is not the time _Miss Swan_." Her voice was quivering and low.

"A day? Maybe even a week?"  
Her movements were slow and coordinated. It was difficult not to give in to her desire.

Regina was sure she was gonna faint if this teasing would continue any longer. There was no time for chit-chat. She needed Emma, and she needed her now.  
"Kiss me." She pleaded.

Although her words were barely audible, they made Emma's heart skip a beat. There was something about the way they rolled off those red lips, the way Regina's eyes darkened when she spoke them.  
With a smile on her face, she closed the remaining space between them, finally tasting the woman who haunted her every dream.

Regina immediately deepened the kiss and started to pull her backwards against the wall. The sheriff didn't hesitate to push her body fully up against her, feeling the woman beneath her weaken by the touch.

Both women were completely caught up in the moment, forgetting all about their surroundings, until some loud laughter downstairs slowly brought them back to reality. Regina broke the kiss and while still breathing heavily, she started to fumble in her pocked and took out a key.

Emma looked at the label. _Room 12_  
She hesitated by the idea. "I ehh..."

The ex-mayor tightened her grip when she realized what Emma was thinking.  
"Don't worry." She said. "I just really don't want to stand here for everyone to see."

The woman in her arms felt relieved. "Good, because I really had too much to drink."  
She was trying to sound tough, pretending like that was the only reason.

Regina kissed her again and whispered. "I'm gonna treat you like the princess that you are, Emma. Which means I'm not going to have my way with you at some cheap Bed and Breakfast."

The blonde's face turned bright red. She had never been treated like a princess before. Then again, she didn't know she was one until only a few weeks ago.  
She took Regina's hand, and let herself be guided towards room 12.

When Regina opened the door, a wonderful candlelit room came into view.  
Emma gasped at the view of it. And started looking around in disbelief.

The other woman took in her reaction, feeling proud that her plan had turned out so well. With the help of a certain someone of course.

She waited patiently until Emma had finished her little pirouette, before reaching out to the blonde and pulling her in closer.

Emma rested her forehead against the queen's, allowing herself a moment to let it all sink in.  
"I can't believe you did this."

"I'm quite surprised myself." Regina answered lightly.

Neither of them knew what to say, instead they showed each other how they felt through their soft and lingering kisses. Ever so often they would come apart just enough to read those unspoken words in each others eyes. A smile always followed, before their lips would meet again.  
They never moved from their spot, both afraid things would go too far if they reached the bed.

When the music downstairs had died down, and the voices had moved outside, Emma slowly dragged herself away from those perfect lips. "I believe we should go." She said with much aversion.

"I think we should sleep." Regina offered. "The room is ours until tomorrow morning."

Emma looked into those beautiful brown eyes, wondering when everything had become so damn perfect.  
"You really thought of everything didn't you?"

"No not really."

She received a questionable look from the blonde.

"I forgot to order breakfast."

Emma started to pull her towards the bed.  
"And you wonder why they call you the _evil_ queen..."


	17. Chapter 17

The next morning, Emma was woken by the sound of the other Bed and Breakfast guests leaving their rooms.  
It took her a while before she realized what had happened the night before.

She was with Regina, that much she knew. They had spent the whole night making out and engaging in small talk. It was so unlike her not to end up having sex with somebody after a steamy make out session, especially one of this magnitude.

She wanted to though, oh god how she had wanted to. But there was something about the queen that had totally freaked her out on that matter.

"When you're done with your inner debate, could you maybe find the time to turn around?"

And there it was. The reason why this was all so damn terrifying. Her wittiness, her sarcasm, the games she played. She was a god damn queen, not to mention _evil_. This woman could crush her like a bug.

Emma slowly turned around to face last night's only witness.  
"Good morning to you too." Her words sounded lazy, yet careful.

Regina smiled back. Her eyes weren't as loving as the night before, but Emma wouldn't have expected it any other way.  
_Please don't regret last night._

"How did you sleep?" She finally asked when the woman didn't reply.

"Quite awful actually. We have to work on those sleeping habits of yours."

Emma's fears and insecurity slowly faded away.  
"At least you're suggesting to giving sleeping another chance."

The queen reached up to cup Emma's cheek. "I am."

It made Emma's heart fluttered as she leaned into the gesture.

"What do we do now?" Regina had been awake the whole night thinking about their potential future. Yet this was all she could come up with.

"How about..." Emma sat up leaning on one elbow. "...we get out of here and have some breakfast." She kissed the woman passionately, feeling a moan escape her. "After that we can go home and talk about it."

Regina gave her a nod in agreement. Being in this room with Emma scared the hell out of her.  
It was so...intimate.

When they were all set and ready to leave the room, Regina stopped Emma from opening the door.  
She hugged her in silence before giving her another last kiss. "I don't want to do that downstairs." She whispered.

It made sense though, they couldn't go public, not yet at least. Love wasn't all magic carpets and singing tea cups.  
"Of course." Emma gave her a sad smile. "Come on, let's go."

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they heard a very familiar voice coming up to them.

"Emma! And...mom?"

Both women froze on the spot. "Henry..." Emma finally managed to get out. "...and Snow." She gave her mother a _WTF?!_ look. "What are you doing here?" It was obviously a serious question, not a happy statement.

"I wanted to bring Henry home, but Regina wasn't there."

"So you thought it would be a good idea to come _here_?" Emma asked in surprise. "Really?!"

"Actually," The woman started. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." Realizing how wrong her move had been.

This whole family get-together made Regina feel way to uncomfortable for her liking.  
"Well Henry, here I am. Now let's go home." She turned on her heels, and carefully guided her son towards the door with her.

"I'll call you!" Emma managed to get out before Regina closed the door behind her.

"Emma!" Snow looked at the woman in disbelief.  
"Haven't I taught you anything?"

The blonde moved her gaze back to her mother. "What does fondue have to do with any of this?"

Snow gave her a playful slap on the arm.  
"You know what I mean." She started to look more serious now. "And I have taught you stuff...right?!"

"Relax mom. Nothing happened."

"What?!" A wolfish scream came from the kitchen.  
"I went through all that trouble and nothing happened?"

Snow hit Ruby with her handbag.

"Ouch, stop doing that already! What's wrong with you?"

"Girls, women, mom...canine...whatever. Just relax. We're all good ok?"  
Emma's face went all love-struck. "_Really_ good, actually."

Snow sat down at the table, trying to regain her composure.  
"So now what?"

"We don't know yet." Emma answered. "I can't think on an empty stomach."  
She started giving her friend a hopeful glance.

"Fine! I'll get you breakfast. But no juicy details while I'm gone."

Snow gave a disgusted look. "Believe me, NOT a problem."

* * *

Regina sat on her couch, trying to focus her attention on a book. Unfortunately the words didn't stick. Her mind kept wandering back to her night with the savior. She missed her, and she hated the feeling of being so codependend. She had always managed perfectly fine by herself. One night couldn't possibly have changed any of that.

Her mind wandered off further. To their dinners, game nights, even the short moments where Emma dropped of Henry. Those never lasted for more than a few minutes. Yet they had been the highlight of her day.  
_How couldn't I have seen this coming?_

She jumped up as she heard the sound of an incoming message on her phone. The volume had been put all the way up in case she might miss it.

**Hi, How are you?**

_How I am? Well Miss Swan... I am feeling awful, lost, confused and...and...I miss you terribly.  
_**_-_**** Very tired.****__**

**I should better not come over then right?**_  
Please say I should...please!_

Ugh, why don't you just come over already?  
**- We do need to talk though.****__**

Emma felt a knot of fear in her stomach. She hated the word 'talk'. And although she knew that was exactly what they had to do, she didn't like the cold distance Regina was keeping in combination with mentioning the talk.  
Nothing good can ever come of that.  
**Shall I come by after dinner?**

_That late?  
_**- That would be fine.****__**

* * *

**__**

"What are you doing?" Snow watched her daughter running in and out of the house, carrying boxes, buckets of paint and bags of clothing.

"Cleaning!"

Her mother eyed her in suspicion.  
"Angry or PMS?"

"Raging!" Her daughter replied. "She is such a bitch!" She turned around suddenly. "No, don't say anything!"  
She continued her pacing, grabbing another box from her room and throwing it into the hallway. When she turned around to repeat the action, she was blocked by her mother.

"Please stop for a moment."

"No!" Emma practically yelled, and pushed herself passed her mom.

"Can you at least tell me what happened?"

"Nothing!" Her voice was angry and sad.  
She ran back upstairs for a pile of old books, halfway down the stairs she let them drop out of her hands. They made a loud noise as they all tumbled down onto the floor.  
"ARGH! What the FUCK!" She let herself drop onto a step, breathing heavily.

"Honey, please tell me what happened." Snow tried again.

"Why? You don't like Regina anyway. What do you care?" She noticed her words were harsh and hurtful.  
"I'm sorry."

Snow came up and sat down a few steps below her, resting her head and hands on Emma's knees.  
"I do care Emma. Please tell me what happened."

"She's just...not the person she was last night."

Her mother swallowed hard, hoping her daughter wouldn't give her any details about last night.  
"How so?" She tried carefully.

"She's cold, and distant, and she's..."

"...Regina?" Snow offered.

Emma smiled shamefully and gave her a nod. "Yes, Regina." She started laughing nervously.  
"I am so scared, mom."

Her mother gave her a sympathetic look. "Well, imagine how she feels."

**__**

* * *

__

**Every Swanqueen story needs a certain amount of drama right?  
I promise you...it won't be a lot, and it will be alright. ;-)**


End file.
